I'm so tired. That is me, with team member Jeff Gordon on the iced up Cache River. I am so excited, I now have notes and information that will be stored in Cornell's Macaulay Library, kind of a childhood dream of mine.

Well, I am back and I want to thank Julie for doing a tremendous job of taking over the blog while I was gone. I was catching up on the entries last night and I think the photo of Chet Baker sitting at the table staring at his birthday stew is my favorite. I laughed for a good ten minutes over that one. I also see my clever plan worked, I have suspected that Julie would make a great blogger and sure enough after running this blog she has started her own. WHOO HOO!

I have so much stuff to show and tell! Some will show up here, some will show up on Cornell's site. Some will show up within the next few days, some will show up within the next few months. Two weeks of intense birding cannot be dumped into one post.

I have to say that I was going into this a little nervous - nine people crammed into a small living space working long hours is usually the stuff of reality television ( I would say bad reality television, but that would be redundant). But I have to say that this was the best group I have ever gone birding with. Sometimes a situation like this can bring out intense competiveness and then that leads to everyone trying to prove themselves and egos get in the way. I truly felt that we were on a level playing field and I honestly enjoyed everyone's company on our team.

Alright, now I have to sort through photos and get ready for another post later today. Right now I'm going to rejoice in food that doesn't require being mixed with boiling water for two minutes before you eat it, high speed internet, not getting up at 4:45am, wearing only one layer of clothing around the house, wearing clothing that doesn't make me walk like mallard or with the same coloration, and snuggling up to Non Birding Bill.